LAST year, Ward 18 councillor, Tim Brauteseth entered a race to be a candidate for the national parliament. After an extensive selection process by the Democratic Alliance (DA), Brauteseth was placed onto the candidate list for national assembly.
Due to the excellent support the DA had in KwaZulu-Natal, which also made them the official opposition in KZN, the weight of that support has promoted Brauteseth into this new position.
According to Brauteseth, from here on, the IEC will declare a vacancy in Ward 18 and a by-election will be scheduled. The DA and other parties will then select their candidates to run in the by-election and the residents given the opportunity to vote in their new ward councillor. A date for the by-election is still to be confirmed but is expected to be around June or July this year.
Once Brauteseth is sworn in as a member of parliament on 21 May, his duties will be oversight of government and making a legislature (laws). He will be allocated a portfolio in due course and will serve on that portfolio committee and also serve on the DA caucus of parliament. He will also be allocated a constituency in KZN.
Ward councillor Brauteseth and his team will still be available to assist the people of Pinetown, Cowies Hill, Dawncliffe and Westville North, up until the new ward councillor is elected.
“I’d like to thank the residents of Ward 18 for all their support for the last three years. It’s been a pleasure serving them and I will keep serving them at a higher national level. In my position in parliament, I will be able to raise issues and concerns happening in Pinetown to parliament,” said Brauteseth.
He added that he will still reside in Ward 18 and will ensure the new ward councillor has the support and knowledge he or she needs to fulfill his role.
According to Brauteseth many challenges remain in Ward 18 – the establishment of a municipal court, the upliftment of the Pinetown CBD and the restoration of Lahee Park, but he is hopeful that the new IRPTN will help restore the city to its former glory.
Residents can still e-mail Brauteseth with their concerns to ward18@ethekwini.org
The DA has sunk very low by selecting this so called councillor to go to Parliament. I live in his ward and you just drive through Pinetown sometime and see what a mess it is with potholes on every street, illegal signage everywhere and for this non performance as a ward councillor he is promoted to Parliament. I have always been a DA voter and in 2016 I will not be voting for the DA again.
Tom, you are quite correct that Pinetown has many potholes and that people litter all over the place. But that is due to the mismanagement of the eThekwini council run by the ANC. A local ward councillor does not have his own budget to resurface roads. He relies on council funding which is not always available. I have pressured council for infrastructure upgrades and whilst many roads have been done, there is still musch work to do. Regarding litter, there is no real enforcement of by laws by Metro Police. I have pressured for a dedicated Metro Police station in Pinetown but it has also fallen on deaf ears. And so the list continues. The bottom line is that the councillor can only escalate issues. He does not have a magic wand to resolve all problems. Finally, have you raised your complaints with me in the past three years?